Microsoft is exploring further mergers and acquisitions, according to Spencer

Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Gaming, recently discussed Microsoft's interest in expanding its gaming acquisitions, focusing largely on mobile and areas offering "geographic diversity" for Xbox. During an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer stated, "We definitely want to be in the market, and when we can find teams and technology and capability that add to what we're trying to do in gaming at Microsoft, absolutely we will keep our heads up."

Even though there are currently no immediate deals on the horizon, and acquisitions of larger firms are not being targeted due to the ongoing transition after the ABK deal, Spencer expressed particular interest in China. This follows the successful launch of Age of Empires Mobile in collaboration with Tencent. "It's been a good area for us to learn from creative teams that have real unique capability," he noted. His vision is to collaborate with Chinese creative teams for global projects.

In the mobile arena, Spencer is optimistic, saying, "To reach new players, we need to be creative and adaptive of new business models, new devices, new ways of access. We're not going to grow the market with $1,000 consoles." However, Xbox's mobile store, originally scheduled for a summer launch, has been postponed for further market study.

Additionally, Spencer shared that Microsoft is exploring handheld devices, working on hardware prototypes that remain in the early stages, with no concrete plans emerging for a few years. He also mentioned the likelihood of increasing cross-platform releases of Xbox games on Sony and Nintendo systems, stating there's no explicit barrier against such moves.

This comes after Microsoft announced a significant boost in its gaming revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, attributed to the Activision acquisition, although Xbox hardware sales saw a decline.